Dawn of Man - Review
9Dawn of Man is a solid, if slow-paced, entry into the city building genre. I went into it expecting a prehistoric twist on the usual formula, and that is pretty much what I got: build a settlement, gather resources, grow your population, and try not to die when winter hits or raiders show up.
-Steam Curator: store.steampowered.com/curator/36307721-Healthy-Criticism/
The game starts you off in the Palaeolithic age. Your people wear skins, live in tents, and hunt mammoths. Progress is slow but steady, and unlocking new technology pushes your settlement forward through thousands of years of human development. Eventually, you make the shift from hunters and gatherers to farmers and metalworkers, and your small camp becomes a thriving village with walls, watchtowers, and self-sustaining systems.
The core gameplay loop is simple and familiar. You gather wood, stone, food, and other materials. You build huts, assign tasks, and try to keep people alive. The challenge increases as time passes, particularly through the raider system. Raider attacks start out light, but they scale with your progress. If you do not upgrade your tools and equipment, you will get overrun. Spears and slings will only get you so far. Eventually, you unlock better weapons and stronger defenses, and once that happens, the game becomes a bit more manageable.
There is a lot to like in the way the game handles progression. Watching your people evolve through the ages feels satisfying. I enjoyed seeing my little tribe leave behind primitive tools and start planting crops, forging iron, and building stone walls. It is not revolutionary, but it is well executed.
That said, the experience is far from perfect.
One of the biggest issues I had with Dawn of Man is the pacing. Most of your time is spent waiting. You need tech points to advance through the eras, but those points are only generated by hitting certain milestones, such as producing 100 units of food, crafting 50 tools, or surviving a certain number of years. The problem is, once you have a stable settlement, there is very little for you to do besides watch numbers tick up and wait for something to happen. It is not that I expected constant action, but there is a difference between a calm city builder and a game where you are mostly just observing.
Another small gripe is the lack of music. The game is incredibly quiet, which could have been an atmospheric choice, but it ends up feeling a bit empty. Without any kind of ambient soundtrack, it sometimes feels like your village is floating in a void. I found myself needing to put on something in the background just to fill the silence.
Still, I do not want to be too harsh. Dawn of Man fills a specific niche a historical builder focused on long-term development rather than constant micromanagement. If you enjoy slow, deliberate progression and you have the patience to let things unfold over time, it can be a relaxing and rewarding experience.
Just do not expect something fast paced or full of dramatic turns. This is a game about endurance, not excitement. And while that might not be for everyone, I did find a quiet satisfaction in seeing my people stand the test of time.